DIXON — Junior Emily McLain believes she and Lyric Levester form a good 1-2 punch inside for White Oak when the two are on the same page.

And they were just that Wednesday night in leading the Vikings to a 52-22 victory over Dixon in the first round of the Dixon Girls Christmas Classic basketball tournament.

Levester, a senior, led the way with 14 points and 10 rebounds while McLain added 13 points and 12 boards for White Oak (8-2), which clearly had a size advantage over the Bulldogs (3-8).

“We communicate really well,” McLain said. “I’ll get it (ball) and see Lyric cutting through the block and I’ll pass it to her and vice-versa. So I think we are really unstoppable when we have that connection.”

The play of Levester and McLain helped the Vikings advance to the semifinals where White Oak will play four-time champion Northside (7-2) today at 5 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s final.

Northside advanced to the semifinals after Wilmington Christian Academy was forced to forfeit Wednesday. The Monarchs will have to limit the Vikings’ post players if they are to win.

“When they (Levester and McLain) start out well for us, we know it’s going to be a pretty good game,” White Oak coach Carolyn Ashdown said. “They are really our foundation because they get us rolling.

“Emily can shoot from the outside a little bit better, and she has a little more finesse whereas Lyric is more going to put the ball on the ground and take you to the basket no matter what. She is going to run through six people to get there.”

McLain paced the Vikings early with 9 points and 9 rebounds in the first half. Levester carried the load in the second half, scoring 12 points after halftime.

Latina Bailey added 10 points for White Oak.

Miranda Davis led Dixon with 10 points.

“Once they (Vikings) had a good enough lead and our shots were falling, it was hard (to rally),” Dixon coach Christel Caliguire said. “We didn’t play our ballgame. White Oak did and the score showed that.”

The Bulldogs didn’t do themselves any favors by shooting 15 percent from the floor. Dixon scored just one point in the first quarter and didn’t score a field goal until 5:13 was left in the first half when Davis made a 3-pointer to cut White Oak’s lead to 17-4.

The Bulldogs didn’t make another basket from the floor until 1:55 left in the third quarter.

Dixon also committed 28 turnovers, compared to 23 by White Oak, although the Vikings only had 12 give-aways after three quarters.

Page 2 of 2 - “We didn’t work the ball well on offense,” Caliguire said. “I think we could have had better shot selection. When we drove, they fouled us and we didn’t capitalize on the free throw line like we should have.”

And while the Vikings only shot 36 percent from the field and was only 9 of 18 from the free throw line, White Oak’s inside game proved too strong for Dixon.

Now the Vikings look to find inside success against Northside. White Oak and Northside have one win each against the other.

“I think we are just excited to be playing each other again,” Ashdown said. “We are a little disappointed it’s not for a championship, but either way, we are playing each other and it will be like our tie-breaking game.”

The White Oak-Northside winner looks to be the favorite to win the tournament, something McLain wants the Vikings to do this year.

“We are very motivated because we have won third and then we got second (last year),” she said. “We want to get first this year.”